The first and last episodes are fine. It's like the first season, but with new plot. There may or may not be some Art Shift if you look from close enough. If you hate Suzumiya Haruhi, you will hate it too, if you liked it, you will like it too. There is nothing else to tell about it.

Now let's get to the interesting part: Endless EightIt is a frequently heard opinion, that Endless Eight was just "trolling", or Kyo Ani wanted to screw with the fans, or they did it only for the money. From the fans' side, you can hear the defense, that it has a significant artistic purpose, as it is significant to sympathize with Yuki's boredom.

I believe that all of the above is wrong. First of all, watching the same thing for a few hours is hardly similar to getting trapped in the same weeks for hundreds of years. The former is "somehow boring", the latter is "insanity-inducting". On Kyo Ani's part, I'm sure that they didn't expect to have a normal reception, so the only reasonable explanation is that they were Doing It For The Art.

To understand Endless Eight's significance, imagine an alternate second season without it. It would have a Disappearance arc, maybe even a Snow Mountain Syndrome. Surely, would be fine. Probably it would be good. Maybe, it would be great. But ultimately, it would be just another season for just another anime show, that some people like and some people hate. No matter what it would show, it could be described with the first paragraph of this review, and the Internet would also be a dozen memes shorter. But this way, we have the most boring series ever. And paradoxically, this attribute is what makes it unique, and interesting.

While watching it, I was laughing. Mostly at myself, as in "Oh my God, I can't believe I'm still watching this crap", but I also laughed at the characters (I Laav you), and sometimes at genuine jokes like Kyon's random EvangelionShout Out that was only in a single episode. At the endings, I was excited, then melancholic, and at the final ending, relieved. I doubt that any other plotline could have given me that much laughing, excitement, melancholy, and relief, so even if technically it didn't have enough new content, I would say, it was worth my time.

Comments

Phrederic

19th May 10

I disagree, True Artis notOffensive, true art is not annoying, true art is not something mind boggling aggravating, true art(god I hate that term) can be those things, but they'd sure as hell provide a purpose in the long run.

Let's say, for arguments sake, that endless eight is the most boring thing ever, Whoop-di-fucking-do! I must congratulate Kyo Ani for creating the worst piece of shit ever, even MD Geist had stuff happening, it wasn't boring, it provoked a reaction other then annoyance! WHY!!! To make us feel for Yuki, guess what, people already fell sympathetic towards, you could have easily built plot and character instead. Of. THAT!!!

In conclusion, Endless Eight is terrible and the antithesis of entertainment, boring.

Personally, I think Superior *gets it*. This was precisely my reaction to Endless Eight: frustrating to the point of throwing up my hands in uproarious laughter. ONLY Haruhi Suzumiya could pull this off, but it worked, IMO. In a way, it has the feel of being so bad it's good... only not. Somehow, it's not bad. Not bad at all. Quite good, indeed. But I believe watching that set of episodes requires both a fanatical devotion to Haruhi (wub wub wub!!!) and a significantly above-average level of patience. If you don't have it, Endless Eight is suck. If you do, Endless Eight is GENIUS.

112.118.91.61

24th Oct 10

So basically, you enjoy the show punching you in the face. For wasting your time.

Wow. Just wow. Words fail me.

Ashoka

24th Dec 10

from a certain point of view, namely mine, EE is an amazing experiment. you gotta realize what kyoto animation was risking with making 8 episodes with basically the same plot; animation is expensive, so if that would have the series to get dropped or not sufficiently sold, the company would have been as good as fucked- they say an average episode costs 100000 just for the animation, and in kyoani's case, you can assume that it cost more due to the sheer beauty of the art an the scenery porn. that's what makes me think that any reason stating that there was a bright side to those episodes was probably brought up on the table. the trolling and the playwriting aspect of yuki's perspective may have been reasons, but rather minor ones. the amzing uniqueness pointed out and the confidence that they can keep us, the viewers, stay put by first not mentioning the loop by having a nice summer montage, cue credits, then in the middle of the second episode (of the endless eight) actually mentioning what going wrong… and then letting us hanging for the solution. for six episodes. it had the nice sideeffect of pointing out the differences and some red herrings concerning the solution of the loop. also think of it this way: if you'd've just watched the last episode of EE, you probably would've just shrugged it off and forgotten that episode in the shadow of the pure awesomeness that is disapperance. kyon shouting about doing homework would've been cases of[[Narm]] or What Do You Mean It'sNotAwesome. after eight episodes, it's extremely awesome and even more releaving, though with a taste of WTF. So, how does it feel to be Ultra Director Haruhi Suzumiya's plaything? Effing brilliant if you ask me, plus I love how the fans got screwed over. Being a Beuys-fan surely helps that attitude^^

Vilui

20th Apr 11

I, for one, enjoyed Endless Eight.

I think the best way of seeing it is as an experiment that takes the series' Genre Busting a step further by pushing the boundaries of the art form itself. By subtracting what one would normally think of as the core of anime — namely, plot and character development — Endless Eight allows us to look at what's left over in a sharper way that we don't normally get the chance to do when we're concentrating on the story. With each repetition, each scene is a different expansion of the same basic outline; camera angles, background music, exact sequence of events and dialogue are all subtly adjusted. (And, of course, there are some less subtle adjustments, such as the occasional entirely new scene or the sudden shifts to monochrome.) The effect is to help you gain a deeper appreciation for how those things are used to suggest or enhance a mood; a series of vignettes, if you like. This wouldn't work in most animes, but in Haruhi Suzumiya the effort and love that goes into the animation, and its always excellent choice of music, made this experiment a success for me. I completely understand that this isn't for everyone and that fans who wanted more story episodes were rightly disappointed, but I just thought I'd add my viewpoint as someone who enjoyed the Endless Eight — more, in fact, than I enjoyed some of the miscellaneous episodes of the first season.

brogaglas

22nd Apr 11

That's an interesting bit of Fridge Logic you've come up with there. I must say I couldn't think of a reason for the Endless Eight beyond Kyo Ani wanting to show me how insane I am for sitting through the same episode eight times over. Making a statement (much to that same effect) about his series rather than simply expanding it makes a lot more sense than just being a jackass. My hat's off to you.

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